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12 March 2013

Fantasy Baseball Draft 1: Springfield A&M

In the next three weeks or so, I'll be posting my fantasy baseball drafts. This may seem like a boring idea, but mostly all posts I've been reading lately are trades, Heritage rips or...well there's not so much more.

I don't have many trades in progress (by design, $30/week in postage is killing me) and I don't plan on buying much of anything until Gypsy Queen comes out. Also cutting my ebay spending, which is where most of my posts come from, anyways.

So while I'll be boring you with these posts, I'll also be giving my two cents on fantasy futures of some of the blogspheroids favourite players - and of course, pictures of baseball cards!

So without further Apu, I present you with the 2013 Springfield A&M draft picks:

I got crushed with a mediocre draft position of 10/10, so keep that in mind.

Key: Round:Pick, Overall Pick

Round 1:Pick 10, 10th Overall

2010 Bowman Chrome Refractor

1B - Prince Fielder, Detroit Tigers

The Man: Prince is super consistent. Lots of home runs, lots of RBIs, and last year's .300 BA doesn't hurt either.The Card: Pulled from one of my 2010 Bowman Chrome $11 Sprawl Mart Blasters. The refraction doesn't show much in 2010, but it is still one of my favorite Bowman products, save for the dreaded "Chrome Curl."

2:1, 11

2010 Finest Refractor

SP - Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers

The Man: Blogger favorite and perennial Cy Young candidate Clayton Kershaw. Verlander went #8 overall, but I was still looking at Clayton Kershaw with this pick. Always add an ace early on.The Card: This is one of the few Finest sets I don't hate, yet I have virtually no cards from this set. Virtually meaning zero, in this case.

3:10, 30

2013 Topps '75 Mini

CF - Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles

The Man: This league goes by all OF positions, thus drafting a quality CF rather than 5 LFers is important. It doesn't get much better than Adam Jones in CF, either.The Card: The 1975 minis are blah for me, though the checklist is seemingly better than that of 2012 - and we've only seen 1/3 of it so far.

4:1, 31

2012 Bowman Platinum Ruby

3B/SS - Hanley Ramirez, Los Angeles Dodgers

The Man: The ever-enigmatic Hanley Ramirez is killing the ball in the WBC. That, coupled with a stack Doyers lineup and a renewed purpose as a full-time SS again, and I feel very comfortable taking a solid run producer in a premium position, even as early as 31st overall. Two years ago, and Hanley was a 1-3 overall guy.The Card: Very few things fill me with the same amount of joy as a discount rack pack of a generally overpriced product. Great-looking card. #loviste

5:10, 50

2012 Bowman Chrome Purple Refractor

SP - Gio Gonzalez, Washington Nationals

The Man: Gio is adorable, and he's starting for America tonight in the WBC versus Puerto Rico, who most people are surprised made it to Round 2. Then again, they faced Big Z, so...The Card: Grabbed from a 6/$8 box at Collectorsfest in January. Picked up this, a Green JPA mini from Gypsy Queen, three Blue Jays '12 BowChrow refractors and a Tony Gwynn jersey card in one shot. Killed it.

6:1, 51

2012 Topps Chrome Refractor

LF/CF - Yoenis Cespedes, Oakland Athletics

The Man: Cespedes is an incredibly impressive player. Just watch him.The Card: Came from my Purple Refractor hot blaster of 2012 Chrome. The purple came later in the box.

7:10, 70

2007 Donruss Elite Collegiate Patches Autograph

SP - Max Scherzer, Detroit Tigers

The Man: Justin Verlander with a higher ERA and less innings pitched. Seriously. The league values strikeouts and K/9 more than the % stats for pitchers. Easy call.The Card: I don't have it. But I need it. I mean, come on, that's awesome.

8:1, 71

2011 Gypsy Queen Sticky Fingers

2B - Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati Reds

The Man: Phillips is a consistent, middle-top tier 2Bman, good HR and RBI totals. And that's about it. Decent follow on the Tweetz, too.The Card: One of my favourite insert sets ever. Going to have to go after that complete set eventually. Great photo for the card, but BP is one of those lads you can't really take a bad picture of.

9:10, 90

2012 Topps Archives

SP - Brandon Morrow, Toronto Blue Jays

The Man: Morrow, on the other hand, is very hard to take a good picture of. Thus, collecting him has been tough. It's just those beedy eyes. But damn, I love watching him pitch more than anyone in the 'Bigs right now.The Card: The Archives subset of the 1984 awesome, nay - majestic year of Topps.

10:1, 91

1998 Upper Deck Retro New Frontier

3B - Aramis Ramirez, Milwaukee Brewers

The Man: The old guy on the team. Third baseman were purged in the 9th round, so I felt I had to act quick. I thought about taking Will Middlebrooks later, and he managed to drop until after the 15th round. Still, if he keeps up with his own trends, he can still be a solid pick.The Card: Like I said, Aramis is the old guy on the team, so I picked a card of his off of COMC from 1998 - a very cool rookie card from the hugely underrated 1998 Upper Deck Retro set. Love the bold serial numbering.

11:10, 110

2012 Heritage

C - Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals

The Man: Hotshot young stud of a Venezuelan catcher - one who saw little to no playing time in the WBC - of your 2013 Kansas City Royals. .300 average probably won't be duplicated this year, but I'm looking for 20 HR and 80 RsBI from him - without the brutal "catcher batting avaerages" you get from the likes of Matt Wieters, JP Arencibia, etc.The Card: Hands down, my favorite from 2013 Heritage. Perfect. And his 2012 Heritage was even better.

12:1, 111

2010 Allen & Ginter's Black Border Mini

SP - Josh Johnson, Toronto Blue Jays

The Man: He had an off-year last year with some shoulder tightness - unless you look at his second half, in which he was lights out. Absolute steal in the 12th round. Strikeouts are going down a bit, but that happens when you're control gets better and a league has had many, many looks at you over six or so seasons. Expecting a huge bounce-back year with Toronto - and this is in no way a homer pick.The Card: JJ has some sweet cards, but I don't have many. Seeing as he's in TO for one year, I am not looking to collect him unless he signs an extension. My guess is that he'll be wearing Yankee pinstripes by December 2013.

13:10, 130

2009 Topps 206 Old Mill Mini

RF/1B - Nick Swisher, Cleveland Indians

The Man: The Swish, power, power, power. Should rake in his new mediocre division. Don't be surprised if the Indians whomp on some teams this year. But not opening week versus the Blue Jays.The Card: Would have liked to avoid more pinstripes, especially with the next card coming - but I just grabbed this card from a discounted 206 blaster a week or so ago, and it was still on my desk. Plus its an Old Mill mini, for whoever the hell cares about four-year old minis. I actually really like the pose, too.

14:1, 131

2009 Topps 206

RP - Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees

The Man: No introduction necessary.The Card: Possibly one of the best looking cards I have ever seen. Beautiful. I need to get this one signed.

15:10, 150

2010 Bowman Topps 100

CF/RF/LF - Ben Revere, Philadelphia Phillies

The Man: New Phillies CF Ben Revere. I really like Revere, and his 40+ SB came cheap at the end of the 15th round.The Card: Loved the Topps 100 insert from 2010 Bowman. Wish they'd do these every year, but Bowman is such a cash grab, you can't expect to get anything you want from them.

16:1, 151

2013 Topps Sergio Romo Red Border

RP - Sergio Romo, San Francisco Giants

The Man: The American Dream, Sergio Romo. Low ERA, lots of Save opportunities on a very, very good team. I don't believe in saves (And I was actually a closer in High School and Legion, as well as today in MVBSL or whatever I play in) but the league rewards saves and holds. I prefer Saves+Holds leagues, but what are ya gonna do, I was invited. Might as well be a good guest.The Card: Target Red. I apologize for the amount of 2013 Topps you'll see, but many of the players I drafted do not have huge big league careers, yet. The blues this year are much better than the reds.

17:10, 170

2012 Topps Chrome Purple Refractor

SP - Ryan Vogelsong, San Francisco Giants

The Man: By now Dodgers fans are probably dry heaving or have already x'ed out of their browser. Suck it guys. I kid, it gets better.The Card: Another from my all-purple refractor blaster which has gone unclaimed. Vogelsong is probably the most boring player in the MLB, and it's actually helped his career to be that way.

18:1, 171

2013 Topps

OF - Norichika Aoki, Milwaukee Brewers

The Man: Limited in card board, but not to the walk-off - Nori Aoki. When they signed him I knew that had something, but it took Yost until August to figure that out. Major League managers do more harm to their teams than good.The Card: More '13 Topps. I'm sorry. It's a good one, though.

19:10, 190

2012 Topps Chrome Purple Refractor

1B - Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins

The Man: Sleeper pick of the draft, Morneau was carrying the Canadian WBC team with Michael Suanders before, well, the USA exposed their pitching inferiority.The Card: You guessed it. Ripped from the purple refractor hot box. Yes, I will continue to rub this one in until someone else bests me.

20:1, 191

2013 Topps

RP - Kenley Jansen, Los Angeles Dodgers

The Man: Supposedly Dutch clozer for the Dodgers.The Card: My only one of him, apparently. I looked in 2012 Update, but didn't see one. Is he in there?

The Man: Serviceable 5th outfielder in a treeeemendous lineup and all-around awesome dude, Torii Hunter.The Card: One of my lacking collections, 2011 Topps Commemorative Patches. Grabbed this for about $1.30 and combined shipping with Shin-Soo Choo, who I pulled from a discount blaster a few months later. So it goes.

The Man: MOAR HOLDZZ!!!11The Card: A surprisingly uncreepy Sean Burnett card. What do I mean? Search COMC for Sean Burnett. Here. I'll do it for you.

27:10, 270

2012 Heritage Minors Clubhouse Collections Blue Tint

C - Travis d'Arnaud

The Man: The Jays traded him, so he'll be awesome. I'm just dicking around at this point in the draft. Ten-team league with DEEP rosters, why not take a shot on baseball's top Catching prospect? He'll start the season with Las Vegas, but I doubt the Mets will allow the mediocrity of John Buck and, according to Yahoo Depth Charts, no second string catcher.The Card: My first D'Arnaud, grabbed off ebay for around $7, numbered to /199 I believe. Blue tint, you guys!

28:1, 271

2013 Topps Gold

LF - Starling Marte, Pittsburgh Pirates

The Man: Another prospect, but I think Marte is expected to make the Bucs out of Florida. Hope he does, because the guy has got assets.The Card: I have four versions of this one so far, pulled two and scored a couple in trades. They ALL look stunning, but I am waiting on the black and purple parallels, they'll probably look the best.

So there you have it. You 27?-man roster for Springfield A&M Baseball.

If you can guess where my team name came from, I will send you a sweet card via PWE, because, why the hell not?

Haha, I actually didn't catch that part at the bottom of your post, but cool! I was just giving you credit for the awesome multiple Simpsons references. "You're just calling it a cow college because it was founded by a cow!"